


new name, new chances

by WeSayNosoro



Series: Bandori Rarepair Week [7]
Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Bandori Rarepair Week, F/F, Fluff, very self-indulgent but what’s new there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 03:15:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19417348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeSayNosoro/pseuds/WeSayNosoro
Summary: Tomoe is curious about the new band.After all, Saaya had never mentioned anything about her friends starting one.





	new name, new chances

Tomoe weaved her way through the crowds of people, programme in hand. She would have arrived here earlier, but she was held up to help with some of the preparations for her own school festival.

There was... a haunted house, a cafe, some other food stalls, a few gaming booths— pretty standard for a high school, but first she wanted to find Saaya so she could have a friend with her. Everybody else in Afterglow was too busy with preparations to come with her, but she had a free afternoon which she really didn’t feel like wasting.

Come to think of it, where was Saaya? Despite passing what felt like nearly every girl in the school, she hadn’t seen that familiar ponytail and yellow ribbon, nor any of her new friends who she had mentioned before.

Her eyes scanned the programme, and she paused on a live show by a couple of the bands in the school. There was CHiSPA, which Tomoe remembered as being Saaya’s former band, and her face fell. Despite what she tried to convince herself, it would probably be hard to listen to them knowing full well one of her best friends had abruptly left a year ago. Maybe she should skip over that event—

_Poppin’ Party._ Tomoe blinked. That was a new name. And looking at the names of the girls in the band, she realised something: those were Saaya’s new friends. But for some reason, Saaya herself wasn’t mentioned anywhere on there.

Neither did Saaya ever say anything about her friends forming a band. That was weird.

Overtaken by curiosity, Tomoe’s legs carried her to the auditorium. She slipped unnoticed through the door, as quietly as she could, so as not to disrupt the new band playing.

_So this was Poppin’ Party._ They had nearly everything a band should: a vocalist, a guitarist, a bassist, and a keyboardist. Yet it still felt incomplete, from the unplayed drums at the back of the stage, to the way Toyama-san looked kind of wistful as she sang. The song didn’t have the beat of the drums to back it up, making it feel less full than it should.

Tomoe frowned. If Saaya had mentioned this to her, she could have offered to step in as a temporary drummer until they found a permanent one.

The song ended, and everyone clapped. The vocalist beamed and looked towards the other members of her band, who nodded. She took a deep breath.

“Thank you! For our next song, we’ve been wanting to perform it with somebody who cannot be here today. We promised that we would perform together with her someday, and I hope these feelings reach her!”

From the back of the auditorium, Tomoe hummed to herself. It seemed that they did have a drummer, or at least kind of. Saaya was their friend, and she did used to be a drummer...

Her head snapped up at the realisation. Could it be—?

Toyama-san moved her hand to start the song, but a loud creak near Tomoe made everyone stop and turn to the sliding door at the back. Even before looking, the audible gasp from Toyama-san made it clear what had just happened.

Saaya stood in the doorway, illuminated by the light outside. She wore an unwavering smile even though her eyes were slightly red.

And clutched in her hand were a pair of drumsticks.

Tomoe thought she could possibly not look more beautiful.

* * *

Seeing Saaya up on the stage even made Tomoe feel somewhat nostalgic. But she was positively radiant— even with the mistakes she made while drumming for the first time in a year, she masked them with her smile, the most genuine one Tomoe had seen from her in ages.

And when the song ended, when the vocalist had finished introducing them and they were heading off the stage, Tomoe clapped until her hands were a raw red.

She waited outside the auditorium, shuffling her feet and craning her neck every so often to see if they were coming.

Eventually, she did hear the laughs of a group of girls, and she grinned when she saw Saaya in the middle of them, still holding the drumsticks.

“Saaya!” she called out, and her friend’s eyes lit up when she saw her. She jogged towards her, ponytail swaying behind her.

“Tomoe!” she greeted enthusiastically, and before Tomoe even knew what she was doing, she enveloped her in a hug.

Saaya stiffened in surprise for a moment, but she quickly returned the hug, burying her head in the warmth of Tomoe’s shoulder.

“You were amazing,” Tomoe breathed, ignoring the giggles of Saaya’s bandmates around her.

Saaya laughed. “Not really. I made too many mistakes up there. That’s what I get for not playing in such a long time, huh?” But her voice held no sort of bitterness or regret.

“Even so, you’re back now.”

“Yeah.” Saaya held Tomoe’s waist tighter. “I’m back.”

**Author's Note:**

> Bookending rarepair week with my other fave ship!
> 
> I have plans to finish my other ongoing fics now, but let’s see how well i stick to that plan


End file.
